Players from the 2008 and 2009 teams told the Detroit Free Press for a story published on the newspaper's Web site on Saturday that the amount of time they spend on football activities during the season and in the offseason greatly exceeds the limits. The players spoke to the newspaper on condition of anonymity because they feared repercussions from coaches.

Coach Rich Rodriguez and the university's compliance director, Judy Van Horn, both denied that the football program was violating NCAA rules.

"We know the practice and offseason rules, and we stay within the guidelines. We follow the rules and have always been completely committed to being compliant with all NCAA rules," Rodriguez said in a written statement to the newspaper.

Van Horn said her department conducts "in-person spot checks of practice during the academic year and summer. We have not had any reason to self-report any violations in this area with any of our sports."

NCAA rules allow eight hours a week for mandatory workouts during the offseason. However, players told the newspaper that they spent two to three times that amount on required workouts.

The players also said the amount of time they spent on football activities during the season exceeded the weekly limit of 20 hours and often exceeded the daily limit of four hours.

They also said quality-control staff often watched seven-on-seven offseason scrimmages that are supposed to be voluntary and that only training staff are allowed to attend.

The Free Press said five of the 10 current or former players it interviewed gave similar accounts of how the program is run and a sixth player confirmed most of the descriptions. Other players gave a general idea of the program. None disputed the allegations, the newspaper said.

The players acknowledged they had signed forms stating NCAA rules had been followed and had not told the university's compliance department about their concerns. One player told the Free Press that athletes would get in trouble if they didn't sign.

Yikes. They got extra practice and only went 3-9 last year. Now, if this proves to be true, what's the worst that could happen? Probation and/or a few lost scholarships?

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With the NCAA, probably a warning or the loss of 1 or 2 scholarships at worst. Michigan football doesn't get put on probation for something like this. ESPN wouldn't allow it.What would be more worrisome is does this cause a split in the team. Always a dangerous situation when you go 3-9 at a school where 9-3 is a down year, and the coach is planning to to play 3 QB's in the opener. Except for the rare Leak/Tebow situation, when you have 2 QB's(or 3 here) you have none. And I doubt they pull off a miracle win like the Wisconsin comeback from last season if the snowball has turned into an avalanche. Slow start from Michigan and things could turn uglier than Lloyd's last season.

Its going to be another nail in Rodriguez's coffin. They have to have a winning season which means 7-5 which is possible considering how terrible the Big Ten is. I think Michigan being on violation would be a good thing for ESPN since most people are getting sick of seeing Teabow and his Gators. College football has a bunch of storylines through out the year including Hesiman watch, how bad the BCS, who is going to the championship game and who is God's gift to football. This story will either get lost in that shuffle or just help get more coverage on why Rich should be fired.

Plus, the NCAA takes forever and a day to get anything done. We are still waiting for the Reggie Bush report from 4 years ago. I suspect that Michigan will be found guilty six years from now and they lose a scholarship. By then, Rodriguez will have left back to some other team and all the players graduated.

Originally posted by lotjxIts going to be another nail in Rodriguez's coffin. They have to have a winning season which means 7-5 which is possible considering how terrible the Big Ten is. I think Michigan being on violation would be a good thing for ESPN since most people are getting sick of seeing Teabow and his Gators. College football has a bunch of storylines through out the year including Hesiman watch, how bad the BCS, who is going to the championship game and who is God's gift to football. This story will either get lost in that shuffle or just help get more coverage on why Rich should be fired.

Plus, the NCAA takes forever and a day to get anything done. We are still waiting for the Reggie Bush report from 4 years ago. I suspect that Michigan will be found guilty six years from now and they lose a scholarship. By then, Rodriguez will have left back to some other team and all the players graduated.

Nah, they only move slow on teams that don't cooperate with investigations. FSU turned themselves in and was punished immediately.

Originally posted by lotjxIts going to be another nail in Rodriguez's coffin. They have to have a winning season which means 7-5 which is possible considering how terrible the Big Ten is. I think Michigan being on violation would be a good thing for ESPN since most people are getting sick of seeing Teabow and his Gators. College football has a bunch of storylines through out the year including Hesiman watch, how bad the BCS, who is going to the championship game and who is God's gift to football. This story will either get lost in that shuffle or just help get more coverage on why Rich should be fired.

Plus, the NCAA takes forever and a day to get anything done. We are still waiting for the Reggie Bush report from 4 years ago. I suspect that Michigan will be found guilty six years from now and they lose a scholarship. By then, Rodriguez will have left back to some other team and all the players graduated.

Nah, they only move slow on teams that don't cooperate with investigations. FSU turned themselves in and was punished immediately.

Good lesson for Michigan as they think of how to defend this.

How did they do on the Fab Five investigation?

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